History of the Profession: APSA Oral History Project: Contributions by Scholars of Color Interview Series at NCOBPS 2025
As part of the ongoing Contributions by Scholars of Color series, the APSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department conducted new oral history interviews during the 2025 National Conference of Black Political Scientists in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This collection of interviews contributes to a continuous project that seeks to amplify the scholarship and contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to the political science profession and to examine the history of race and racism within the discipline.
This series builds upon the APSA–Pi Sigma Alpha African American Oral History Project (1988–1994) and is motivated by the McClain Task Force on Systemic Inequality in the Discipline (2022). The project was filmed by Logan Gunzenhauser and conducted and edited by APSA staff, including Isabel Thompson, Program Assistant for DEI Programs, and India Angelique Simmons, Program Manager for DEI Programs.
Meet the Scholars
Dr. Sharon D. Wright Austin | Watch interview
Sharon Wright Austin is a professor of political science at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on African American women’s political behavior, African American mayoral elections, rural African American political activism, and African American political behavior. She is the author of Race, Power, and Political Emergence in Memphis; The Transformation of Plantation Politics in the Mississippi Delta: Black Politics, Concentrated Poverty, and Social Capital in the Mississippi Delta; The Caribbeanization of Black Politics: Race, Group Consciousness, and Political Participation in America; Beyond Racial Capitalism: Cooperatives in the African Diaspora (co-edited with Caroline Shenaz Hossein and Kevin Edmonds); and most recently Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors. She has also published several book chapters and articles and is currently completing a book entitled Say It to My Face: Black Women and the Presidency. She was also a member of the American Political Science Review‘s editorial team from 2020-2024 and was its first African American editor.
Dr. Lorenzo Morris | Watch interview
Lorenzo Morris is professor emeritus and former chair of political science at Howard University. He taught in the Tocqueville-Fulbright Distinguished Chair at the University of Paris, and in Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow in the Institute for the Study of Educational Policy. He has served internationally as a visiting lecturer and analyst on electoral behavior and civil rights in numerous countries. He is an author and consultant on electoral behavior, black politics, and international and American public policy. He has provided frequent television, radio and newspaper commentary on public affairs in the U.S., Western Europe, Canada, and francophone West Africa. He has published five scholarly books, including Elusive Equality, and about a hundred fifty articles. His recent papers include “Behavioral Pragmatism: President Obama’s Approach to Unemployment,” in Review of Black Political Economy, “African American Representatives in the United Nations,” in African American in U.S. Foreign Policy (2015), and “The Last Stages of Gentrification. Mayoral Elections” (2019). He has been an officer in numerous professional associations including president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. He is an original researcher in the Howard Initiative on Public Opinion. He is a former chair of the Howard University Faculty Senate. He has served on numerous advisory boards for scholarly journals and associations such as PS Political Science & Politics, which he chaired. He has also directed the Census Information Center, the Community Development Minor, Phi Beta Kappa and other academic associations at Howard. He has advised numerous public policy associations and leaders. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in political science from the University of Chicago. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Fisk University. He studied at Oberlin College and Yale University. He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Dr. Larry Edward Moss | Watch interview
Dr. Larry Edward Moss is a former professor of political science at Atlanta University and former director at the Therrell Magnet Center for Law and Government at Atlanta Public Schools.
Dr. Joseph H. Silver | Watch interview
Joseph H. Silver, Sr. Is President of Silver and Associates, a full-service education consulting firm. The firm has a fifteen-year track record of assisting colleges and universities with solving complex problems, accreditation issues, and developing sound strategic planning. Dr. Silver was an Advisor to the firm for many years and then served as the Managing Partner. Most recently he was named President of Silver & Associates. Dr. Silver served as President of Alabama State University, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Clark Atlanta University, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Savannah State University, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the University System of Georgia, and an administrator and professor of political science at Kennesaw State University.
His work is recognized on the regional, national, and international levels. In March 2012, Dr. Silver received the leadership award from the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education’s (AABHE) and, going forward, the award has been named the “Joseph H. Silver, Sr., LMI Alumni Award.” A leadership award is also named in his honor at Clark Atlanta University in 2012. In 2014, the National Association of President’s Assistants in Higher Education awarded Dr. Silver the “Professional Achievement Award” for his leadership in higher education. A native of North Carolina, Silver earned the B.A. degree in political science (summa cum laude) from St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, NC, and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University). He also engaged in summer study at Oxford University, APS-Stanford University, and the American Judicature Society.